Created Out of Mind were The Hub’s main residents between October 2016 and July 2018.
Goals
Created Out of Mind aimed to “shape the conversation around dementia” during their time at the Hub.
Many of the group’s core members came from the Dementia Research Centre (DRC) at University College London. The team aimed to explore what dementia means to all of us, as well as challenging definitions of the condition.
Research outputs
During their residency, the group examined how artistic activity affected people with dementia “in the moment” rather than measuring the effects of music as therapy.
One study saw team members take samples of the stress hormone cortisol from people with dementia as they sang in a choir. The idea was to see if people with dementia felt, for example, elated or sad while they were singing.
They also held regular rare dementia support groups and received a £3.15 million grant from Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to create an online support group for people with rare dementias.
As well as reports and papers on the group’s research, the team helped produce and host ‘Why Music? The Key to Memory’ – a weekend of special programmes exploring memory on BBC Radio 3. Other outputs included an online course on dementia and the arts, as well as Vicky McClure’s ‘Our Dementia Choir’.